The invention relates generally to tape measures and, more particularly, to an improved tape measure and housing.
It will be appreciated that tape measures typically comprise a tape wound on a reel that is rotatably supported in a housing. The tape may consist of a steel blade, a plastic or fiberglass ribbon or other relatively flexible material that can be wound on the reel. The tape has measurement indicia thereon such that it can be unwound from the reel and extended from the housing to measure linear distances. The tape may be rewound on the reel manually using a crank or automatically such as by using a spring. The exposed end of the tape typically includes an end hook for temporarily attaching the end of the tape to an article during use and for preventing the end of the tape from being wound all of the way into the housing.
As will be appreciated tape measures are often used in relatively harsh environments such as construction sites, industrial sites and other work sites. As a result tape measures are subject to impacts as a result of being dropped or otherwise struck. Most tape measure housings consist of a plastic or metal housing that comprises two substantially identical clam shell halves where the halves are joined together along a center line of the device and are secured together by screws, rivets or other fasteners. Existing tape measure housings are prone to failure as a result of being dropped or otherwise impacted because the tape measure housing is subjected to shear forces along the seam where the two housing halves are joined together that cause the connection between the housing halves to fail. As a result, the end user may be forced to prematurely replace the tape measure.
Thus, an improved tape measure and tape measure housing is desired.